Artist Mideo Cruz is now at the eye of one of the biggest controversies in the Philippine visual arts scene. His latest work “Poleteismo” is being vilified left and right by various religious groups and influential leaders, and an ABS-CBN reporter has even come out with a column suggesting that he, Cruz, should be forced to drink muriatic acid.

Cruz’ “Poleteismo” is part of the exhibit “KULÔ”, group exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Gallery showing until August 21, 2011. It was launched on June 17 on the occasion of CCP’s celebration of Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday.
TV Patrol’s Mark Logan in his column in the tabloid Abante said many were incensed when they saw the TV Patrol report on Cruz and his exhibition. Logan suggested that those who were angered by how Cruz put together his installation art and murals depicting – among many other concepts — religious icons should kill Cruz.

“Don’t you have pity for this person? Just because he put black tears on the face of Jesus Christ. Will you beat him up when you see him? Stab him, strangle him or push him into a creek? But before this, will you make him drink muriatic acid and then have him shot by a motorcycle-riding tandem? It’s too much! Don’t you have any respect for someone like him who’s an ‘artist’?”

Controversial artist Mideo Cruz says that he never goes out of his way to offend; “But I do like to provoke debates and critical thinking. Art is a way of expressing one’s views about the world, culture and history, and this is what I do in my work. The audience is free to make their own conclusions and interpretations about the images I create, but I must confess I didn’t expect anyone to react so violently against ‘Poleteismo.’(Photos by Ina Alleco Silverio / bulatlat.com)

“Maybe as you’re taking a walk you might get beat up by those you offended to the extreme. With today’s technology, news travels fast! You see buddy, if you say that you have rights, what about the rights of Catholics and other sects who believe that Jesus is God? ”

Logan went on to seemingly address Cruz: “If you’re an atheist or if you believe in no god, don’t violate the beliefs of others! This is a predominantly Catholic country, my boy…”

The reporter went on to say that Cruz’ work was the sort that only a pig would believe to be “art.” His parting shot was to say that Cruz shouldn’t ask the media for help because the media doesn’t have the ability to protect him from being lynched.

Cruz’ Facebook page in the last two weeks has also been bombarded with insults and threats, with many accusing him of, among other things, being a veritable henchman of Satan himself defiling Christ and His Holy Family.

Around 11:30 am on August 4, guards of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CPP) were surprised to discover that Cruz’ work had been vandalized. A Facebook account under the name “CPP Visual Artists” released a statement saying that the security aides were unable to apprehend the vandals, but the CPP has already taken steps to avert further damage to the exhibits.

“We request the arts and culture community to keep vigilant but let us maintain a dignified stance about this. We will not be equal to the rage and extremism of other entities. As you may recall, the CCP has always maintained that freedom of expression extends to all; not just to artists but to those who wish to speak up for their religious and spiritual beliefs within proper means and venues,” it said.

Among the messages the vandals scrawled across various parts of Cruz work was “Emedeo Cruz (I.N.C.) Sumpain ka, Bakla” and “Bakla Parusahan Ka” (Curse You, Homosexual, Homosexual you should be punished).

CCP Visual Arts called for sobriety in the wake of angry pronouncements both in mainstream media and social networks in the internet against Cruz’ “Poleteismo. ”

Archbishop Oscar Cruz , former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, has called for a boycott of the exhibit.

The group Pro-Life Philippines, in the meantime, has threatened to file charges against the CCP and called the exhibition “sacrilegious and blasphemous. ” Pro-Life President Eric Manalang has been quoted on CBCP News as saying that if the CCP does not stop the exhibit, and make amends, it will proceed with the charges.

“Stopping it is not enough. The damage has been done,” Manalang told CBCP News. He did not say what kind of damage had been wrought and against whom.

CCP Visual Arts said these reactions and courses of action are all valid as moral and legal resorts of those who feel offended by art.
“And though art is representation and does not pretend to be anything more than art, we would like to remind anyone else who are considering violent and destructive acts against art, artists and art institutions that such acts are clearly criminal. Let us all be proper, respectful and tolerant despite our different views. Not all of us are Catholics, not all of us are artists, yet we are all deserving of honor and dignity,” it said.

Critics against “Poleteismo” seem to be ignorant of the fact that it has been exhibited since 2002 in venues such as the Loyola School of Theology in Ateneo de Manila University, UP Vargas Museum, Kulay Diwa in Paranaque City, and was also featured in the music video of Anghel sa Lupa by Stonefree. Cruz has recreated the piece every time it was presented for exhibition.
As for the other “culprit,” the CCP explained that it accepted the exhibition proposal and the artworks based on the determination of the premise that these are legitimate art expressions by artists who have already established reputable track records through national and global awards, grants and expositions.

To provoke critical thinking

As for the potential lynch-mob victim, Cruz is somewhat bewildered and a little sad over the violent reactions. A self-effacing man who avoids direct questions about how he interprets his own art, Cruz said he never expected the negative reactions coming from various quarters.?

(Photo by Ina Alleco Silverio / bulatlat.com)

“I never go out of my way to offend; but I do like to provoke debates and critical thinking. Art is a way of expressing one’s views about the world, culture and history, and this is what I do in my work. The audience is free to make their own conclusions and interpretations about the images I create, but I must confess I didn’t expect for anyone to react so violently against ‘Poleteismo.’ The worse that I would’ve expected is for no one to come to the CCP and see my work or those of the my colleagues in this exhibition,” he said.

There are those who might say that Cruz is being a bit too naive when he said how surprised he was by the outrage generated by his work. He put up pictures of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary alongside condoms; he got plastic piggy banks and put them inside a glass display case, the sort that’s commonly found in churches; he hung crucifixes and rosaries next to wooden phalluses. Like reporter Logan said, “the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic Country,” so the reaction of some quarters could not have been such a shock.

“I wanted to provoke people into thinking. I titled my work ‘Poleteismo’ which loosely translates into ‘many beliefs’ or ‘many deities.’ Throughout history, humanity has grown to create new gods and these are not always religious figures but concepts and objects. Some have taken to worshipping money; some see politicians as godsend. People create idols and these idols whether or not they’re deserving of idolatry or worship affect our lives and how we function and see the world,” he said.

“Poleteismo” is actually three walls entirely covered with various images and papers — calendars, bus tickets, old school certificates, photographs, political posters, postcards, advertisements and other printed materials. Jesus, Mary and Joseph are not the only images featured, but Robert Jaworski endorsing Dr. J. rubbing alcohol; Alma Concepcion smiling over Champion cigarettes; two Thai actors selling Coca-cola, and US President Barack Obama.

Comment navigation

Being a critical is not always a part of thinking, that what makes human unique in any other creatures in the world. Presentation of Art and Exhibits should always be firm and CCP should always be a venue for plain,just balance presentation of all individual who wants to share their idea through different expression about what they want in their life.
The freedom of expression should be in reality expressing what you what and what you like . In this kind of world were we live we should always strugle to make this fre but again we want also to be prepared for the consequences.

1. A real Artist will not use other artworks for his own creation, specially to create something that opposes their purpose and meaning.

2. Those artist who creates those images are Catholics, believers. It’s a direct hit to the moral of being an artist and to those people who are Catholics. It’s such a shame that people nowadays tends to forget that one important word. Respect.

“Everyone is responsible for their actions, even those who claim freedom”

Great job here. I really enjoyed what you had to say. Keep going because you definitely bring a new voice to this subject. Not many people would say what youve said and still make it interesting. Well, at least Im interested. Cant wait to see more of this from you.

his work is the representation of today’s generation, just like some politicians, we believed that they are god-fearing citezen, but they are not, all they want is to awaken our mind that they are religious enough. when it comes to the so-called image of our creator, He’s not an exact image of god, with a long hair on it, he said in the holy bible that he dont like a man with long hair…………… heheheheheh,,,,,,, but we are worshiping his image that he is long hair………….. I am a roman catholic but i am not affected to his art………….. in every art there is a meaning behind it…………………….

in reality there’s no really absolute freedom. respect begets respect.the representation of such art work do not only point the catholic Christians but all the other christian denomination.we should be all sensitive to the other peoples feelings. though we have a freedom of expression we should not abuse it. as an artist mideo has the right to express his feelings through his art but he exaggerated and for me insulted the christian community.

Art is subjective. Mideo Cruz’s work manifests this statement. I think the problem lies with what Mr. Cruz has said. He has given the public the right to judge his work. By doing this, he has passed onto us his own right to freedom of expression.

Mideo Cruz’ work may be ART for some and BLASPHEMY for others. i have read various definitions of the word ART in your comments to justify Mr. Cruz’ work. Those who were offended have expressed their anger as well. I find Mr. Cruz’ exhibit quite disturbing but it has not shattered my faith. For us, catholics, let us not condemn MIDEO CRUZ. When his time comes, he will have to face GOD himself, and let GOD JUDGE him.

Art is subjective, but you should not look at it literally. Whether visually stunning or not, art symbolizes something and conveys message. That’s why we were encouraged to use our critical thoughts, so we can see beyond the images portrayed, not just seeing Christ with a cock. The old saying holds true, that you should not judge the book immediately without reading it first.

You can present the argument of RESPECT. Have you thought why the exhibit was held in CCP, and not in public galleries in the malls or parks? Because people don’t go to CCP just for strolling or “mag-pa-aircon”. CCP is the place where people go to experience the arts and culture. And remember, some arts and cultures are shocking. If you do not understand the arts, or easily gets offended, don’t go to CCP. The artist respected your rights not to show in public but in CCP, now be respectful enough not to look or show the images to others, as many are dimwitted and don’t grasp the message immediately.

I think the brouhaha started when a self-important lunatic reporter, who thinks he’s one of the intelligent life-forms by watching Indie films in CCP (remember, Indie movies are becoming the hip today) happened to see the exhibit and sensationalized the whole thing. Now, tell me who stepped on the “respect” first?

PS. I hold firm with my stand on this issue even in my FB page, I’m not hiding under my blanket.

To me this is not an art exhibit but to show one’s hatred for Catholics.
He just found a way to show the world how he hate Catholics and Catholic as a Religion.
It is sad that he used art as an excuse, where others strive to show the world talented Filipino artist art, He just did the opposite.Not all artist appreciate what he did.

If he wanted to provoke critical thinking why don’t he do art that would benefit our country, let say art that would help the countries economy instead of having those exhibit he has. In the first place di naman sa kanya gawa yong di ba? Inilagyan nya lang ng kong anik anik yong gawa ng iba then claim it. If I were you why don’t you put your own face in your exhibit and stuff it with condom. Would you like that? My dear friend your artistic freedom is not absolute it is govern by laws. We know that artist have their own world real or not, if you don’t believe in something we catholic believe then tackle some other subject as your art. Have you not known that it is sensitive to tackle religion? Well, I think you have learn your lesson. and next time instead of CHRIST as your subject of humiliation try making yourself as subject and see from the point of view your friends and family if they like it.

I wonder why Mideo Cruz cannot do artwork with figurehead of other religions in the first place. Coward! Why can’t he express his arts through other religions (You know which ones I am referring to). He has fear eh? And yet he doesn’t fear the wrath of the Almighty. Then he cannot be a perfect artist after all. Hindi nya kayang gawin yun with other religions, because if he does, pugot na ang ulo nya. A good artist should know the sensitivity of human beings, of whose kind he is one. I think his art is a beastly (take note of the root word “beast” here, because only beasts do not have sensitivity to feelings of human beings) manner of expressing his unusual emotional setup. I think he had problems with his family (or his mother was ****), and he wants to pour out his rage to everyone including the one who gave his Life. Otherwise, this man is rooting for attention. Bad thing, he used religious images to achieve this. I think this way he is testing the Omnipotent. He will have his own time. It is clear in one of the 10 Commandments that “Thou shall not use thy Lord our God’s Name in vain”. Pictures are words even before letters were used by human beings (remember the “Hieroglyphics”). Those pictures of mentally ill Mideo are indeed a transgression of such Commandment. They are sacrilegious in plain sense. They are a total blasphemy. No justification could be issued in favor of those pictures. This man deserves to be penalized. What if an artist put Mideo’s mother’s ass all over the internet, will he not react to that? What if P-noy’s picture be disgustingly vandalized? Mideo is nothing but a plain pervert! Lastly, I would just like to ask: if this man has blotted out divine fear in his conscience, what more horrible things could he be capable of doing in the future? I throw this alarming concern to the proper authorities.

I have little to say because you guys nailed it on the hands and feet. Those hypocrites just dont know art appreciation. Art is a hell lot more than just aesthetics, that is if these stupid hypocrites know the meaning of aesthetics. Long live freedom of expression!